WHAT A DEAL!

Posted on July 11, 2011 by thathobbitlady

Saturday my blow-dryer died a violent death.  It has been making a slight high-pitched “wrrrr”ing noise for a couple of days, but on Saturday the intensity increased and increased until finally there was a loud POP!  And then that was the end.

So I need a new blow-dryer.  We look in the Sunday sale papers and find out that Walgreens is having a sale on this one blow-dryer where the price is reduced from $25.00 to $18.99 AND you get a coupon for $5.00 off your next visit.  I visit Amazon briefly to find out that this particular item has very good reviews, so we go off to Walgreens to get it.

At Walgreens they are also having a sale on the 24 pack of Dasani water—which was already on our shopping list!  With their in-store coupon, it’s $3.99 for 24 bottles.  So we buy two, use the $5.00 coupon, and end up paying a total of $3.90 for 48 bottles of water.

Or…if you prefer to think of it this way…eight cents per bottle.  What a deal!

I’m thirsty.  Think I’ll go drink one now.

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NOT GUILTY

Posted on July 6, 2011 by thathobbitlady

As I mentioned last time, Russ and I have been following the Casey Anthony trial, and as everyone knows by this time, the verdict has come back as Not Guilty.  Everyone else has been expressing their outrage and concern, so I thought I’d take a moment to weigh in on the matter as well.

I am outraged.  And I am concerned.  Basically, I believe Casey Anthony has “gotten away with murder.”  The justice system failed.  I firmly believe the jurors could NOT have possibly bought into the “drowned in the swimming pool and covered up by Grandpa George” argument.  At least I certainly hope they were smarter than that.

What I do believe is that the prosecution simply did not present enough evidence to convict.  Tonight we are hearing one of the jurors saying they do not believe Casey was innocent, just that there was no enough evidence to convict.  If that is the case, then the jury followed the law, abided by the court’s rules.  They “did the right thing,” and got the wrong result.  And that’s just too bad.

But here, I think, is something even worse.  I read an article today that basically stated that Nancy Grace is the main reason why this murderer is free tonight.  If Nancy Grace on her show had not given Casey Anthony so much attention, she would have never risen to near-celebrity status.  If Casey had remained a “nobody,” like so many other criminals, she may not have been able to afford an attorney able to adequately defend her.  She may have never been able to attract the attention of attorneys competent and skilled enough to point out so many holes in the prosecution’s case.  And without that “reasonable doubt,” she could right now be looking at Guilty rather than Not Guilty.

To make matters worse, because Nancy Grace elevated Casey to this near-celebrity status, and evoked such strong public emotion against her, perhaps this was a deciding factor in the State going after her for First Degree Murder, rather than a lesser charge.   Would there have been a public outrage if the State tried her for anything less than First Degree Murder?  Was the prosecution greedy?  If they had taken it upon themselves to prove a lesser charge, maybe they would have been able to get a conviction.  Perhaps they aimed too high, and that is why they missed the mark altogether.

I’ve heard it said that celebrities can’t get convicted of anything these days, they always walk, a la OJ, and a la Michael Jackson.  Not to mention Lindsay and Paris—-very light sentences.  Casey Anthony has joined the ranks of celebrity, and she’s gotten celebrity treatment in the justice system.  And we have Nancy Grace to thank for that.

Thanks a lot, Nancy.

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TV

Posted on July 4, 2011 by thathobbitlady

Russ and I have been following the Casey Anthony Trial pretty religiously.  Tomorrow COULD be the big day, the Verdict.  I hate that I have to go to work!  Afraid I might miss it.  This has become quite an event that is taking up a good deal of our time.  What WILL we do with ourselves when it’s over?

In other news, a new episode of Hoarders is coming on in about 15 minutes.  After that, it’s probably early to bed.

Such an exciting life, no?

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HAWAII…OR ALASKA?

Posted on June 30, 2011 by thathobbitlady

With all other things being the same (you haven’t won the lottery or landed the perfect job, you’re not going there to live with your kids or grandkids, or to meet the love of your life, etc.), if you had to pick a place to live, and your only choices were Hawaii or Alaska…which would you choose?

Hmmm….good question, huh?

Gut reaction? I know what mine is. Alaska. And I’ll tell you why.

Mostly, it’s because I wouldn’t want to live in Hawaii, on account of Hawaii being so exposed to hurricanes, and having volcanoes. If a natural disaster strikes, you are poop out of luck, you’ve got nowhere to go! Also, I hear it’s extremely expensive to live in Hawaii.

I am not by nature much of an adventurer, but strangely, Alaska appeals to me for that sense of adventure. Having to put up with the weather would probably be enough of an adventure, don’t you think? I feel like everything out in Alaska is bigger and better and cleaner and newer than everywhere else.

I think I have been greatly influenced by that TV show from the 1990’s, Northern Exposure. I guess I’m kind of hoping that if I ever actually made my way out to Alaska, I’d find that crazy little town. I think it would be fun to live there.

Of course, as Russ has pointed out to me, “The temperature in Alaska is like six degrees!” (He leans on the side of Hawaii, by the way.) He’s also pointed out that Alaska is prone to earthquakes, and it’s also pretty expensive to live there as well.

Sigh…

Way to take the air out of my balloon…

Well, anyway, in all probability I will never have to make this decision. In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy watching my Northern Exposure DVD’s.

How about you? I’d be interested in hearing how others come down on this Hawaii/Alaska issue.

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TORNADO DAMAGE & FUNNY CATS

Posted on June 29, 2011 by thathobbitlady

It’s been over two months since the tornado, and we are starting to see some clearing of debris, but not too much yet in the way of rebuilding. Here is a short video of one of the hardest hit areas in town. The first twelve seconds or so goes past where Russ used to work.

And now for something completely different…

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SUPER 8

Posted on June 25, 2011 by thathobbitlady

Russ and I saw the new movie Super 8 this afternoon, and it was pretty good. In many ways, it was reminiscent of the folksy sci-fi movies of the 80’s, like E.T. and Close Encounters. As a matter of fact, Steven Spielberg was responsible for those movies, and had his hand in this one as well, and it shows. And that’s not a bad thing. It was fun, and familiar.

The movie starts up quickly, drawing you right in with plenty of interesting characters. Lately Russ and I have been seeing a lot of “big” movies about superheroes, apocalyptic disasters, invasions from outer-space, etc., so when I realized I was enjoying this movie based simply on the everyday experiences of ordinary suburban kids, I found it quite refreshing. Of course, quickly after this, there is a disaster that leads to a mystery that finally reveals itself to be something “big,” (I won’t spoil it for you), and strangely that is where I think the movie kind of lost its grip on me. But only a little. Even if it did sort of fall into being predictably preachy and somewhat “over the top,” it was still a lot of fun.

A lot of the fun was in the details of the time period, noticing the cultural references from the 1970’s. Oh! And if you see the movie, don’t leave while the credits are rolling. Some of the best stuff happens during the credits. You’ll laugh.

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LONG DRIVE

Posted on June 24, 2011 by thathobbitlady

Today Ken is taking the long drive down to South Florida, bringing the cats to their new home.

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THE BOOGIE REPORT

Posted on June 23, 2011 by thathobbitlady

Before we went on vacation Boogie was starting to have some trouble again with his belly, so we took him to the vet to get the shot that always seems to help him feel better.

In addition, the vet gave us a new thing to try: a probiotic powder to sprinkle on his food. It’s called “FortiFlora” and I do believe it’s starting to make a difference.

I don’t want to jinx anything, but since we’ve been back, there has been no pooping outside the box, and no constipation. (Lovely topic of conversation, right?) I think maybe we are moving in the right direction. I feel highly encouraged. Of course the real question is: how long will it work? how long will it last? Well, I guess I should just be happy that for the time being something seems to be working, making him feel more comfortable.

And that is the Boogie Report for today.

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ONE LITTLE WORD CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE

Posted on June 22, 2011 by thathobbitlady

My eye is starting to feel better. I don’t think it was conjunctivitis, probably just an irritation from something or other. So that’s the good news.

And there is no bad news! At least not today. But something happened this afternoon that just really made me laugh out loud.

Got an email from the “big boss,” about someone in the building getting a promotion. He obviously left out one little word, because the email read like this (and I paraphrase):

I am pleased to announce that so-and-so has been promoted to such-and-such position in the Finance Department. Our Finance Department has never been important to our organization. Please join me in congratulating so-and-so…

WHAT? Never been important?

A few minutes later there was another email, subject: CORRECTION, including the phrase “never been MORE important.” HAHA! Of course that’s what he meant from the start. It was just funny to see that sentence in writing. And it was encouraging to me to know that we little people are not the only ones that make big, embarrassing mistakes.

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TAKING IT EASY

Posted on June 21, 2011 by thathobbitlady

Been spending the last few days getting back into routine. Slowed down a bit by an irritation in my left eye. It might be conjunctivitis, but maybe not. Two days now, I’ll see how it looks in the morning. May have to end up going to the doctor.

We’ve been following the Casey Anthony trial. I am just flabbergasted at the number of wild theories the defense is willing to throw up against the wall, hoping something will stick. One outrageous story might just be an outrageous story, but when they keep coming up with one crazy thing after another, it’s beginning to feel laughable and ridiculous. Even the defense’s OWN witnesses are contradictiong themselves and saying things that support the prosecution’s case! It’s worth watching just to see what might happen next. I certainly hope this case is not representative of the American justice system.

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